Invertia
Genre: Industrial Black Metal
Label: Independent
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Format: Digital
By Tom Breedon
Invertia is an industrial meets black metal project coming out of New England, USA. The project consists of metal guitar player and composer Dave Coppola combining his riff wizardry and evil blackened doom metal styling with the skills of electronic artist Tim Winson to create something a little bit different. Each track has a seemingly different focus and feel. Certain tracks focus much more on the black metal vocal and fairly routine metal song structure, others have a more industrial sort of feel, and at times the electronics completely take over to create a feel of a futuristic nightmare!
With so much happening when these songs crescendo to their peak it’s pretty impressive that each part keeps it’s identity to a degree in the mix. Some very clever generated noises, almost reminiscent of an army of robots rising to take over the earth, mesh very nicely with a great mix of fast, choppy riffs and discordant guitar sections. These bizarre but somehow suited mix of sounds is complimented by a demonic, deep growled vocal.
In truth the drum sounds and guitar tone don’t really do it for me, but I get the impression that these guys gave priority to creating a sense of dread and impending doom. In that sense, they have certainly succeeded! Sudden tempo shifts and dramatic changes in feel are the order of the day as track after track leaves you feeling more abused and exhausted than the last. In short, this record will leave your ears and brain wondering what the hell has just hit it!
The album starts off with the track “Facility of the Feeble” a sequence of unnerving noises which brings to mind the sound of a computer connecting to the internet in the depths of hell! No sooner have we digested that, then it’s straight into a devastating assault of blast beats and ferocious, unrelenting riffs featuring discordant stabs and violent vocals a plenty! The pace drops a little as we go into second track “All Systems Fail”. The groove and tempo almost reflects hints of thrash metal combining with the bands obvious black metal influence. The vocal however refuses to compromise, and is still striking terror into the heart of the listener as this song demonstrates Invertia’s ability to include hooks and create space a little more in their compositions. The guys tug a lot more at the electronic thread of the record with the track “A Glowing of Gray”, and I have to say this track doesn’t really do much for me. The robotic effect on the vocal is pretty cool, but an awful lot of the accompaniment sounds a bit disorganized and reminiscent of preset sounds from those keyboards you used to use in music lessons at high school!
This record really does mix up the feel from track to track. The track “Situation Manipulator” drops us adopts a funeral doom sort of influence, while “Embracing The Grim” features Dave showing his chops on the guitar throwing some nifty leads into the equation. My personal favourite track from the record is “Beasts of Prey”, not least for the name! This tune features Invertia mixing up everything that they do best. The electronic elements are more subtle and complimentary to everything else that’s going on. They mix things up with the tempo too, and the mix of stops, holds and searing riffs creates a feel comparable to early Obituary records at times. A really solid, evil metal piece from top to bottom.
The tempo lifts again with the no nonsense onslaught of “Perpetual Alert”, with next track “Nemesis Reminder” offering more of the same with slightly more obnoxiousness! Invertia save their longest and most epic piece for last, with “Blasphemy Be My Name” closing the show with some interesting vocal effects, atmospheric use of space and some very impressive guitar work.
This really is one of those albums that you will need to hear for yourself. Some of the tracks really strike a chord with me and got me pulling my trademark metal face in approval, while other tracks…not so much. One thing I’d suggest is if you aren’t keen on any particular track or sequence on this record, just wait for the next one, because they change it up quite a bit and keep things pretty interesting whilst at all times maintaining a truly evil, disturbing and ominous feel. There is definitely plenty here worth checking out for fans of black and old school death metal. Invertia’s self titled debut album is available for online download. If evil, anger and ferociousness are your bag, then give this album a shot!
INVERTIA 